This invention relates to safety devices for motor vehicles which protect passengers during an impact affecting the vehicle.
As a result of space limitations, the sides of a vehicle have relatively short lateral deformable distances. Thus, serious injuries to passengers may result if the vehicle is struck from a side. The passengers in a vehicle are especially exposed to considerable injury hazard when an impacting object penetrates into a passenger compartment. In order to protect the passengers, a greater resistance to lateral penetration of an impacting object should be provided. It is well known that bend-resistant supports or beam barriers can be built into the sides of a vehicle.
European Published Application No. A1 02 35 635 discloses a safety device which transfers most of the impact energy of a lateral impacting object to a door sill. Since vehicle door sills usually have a relatively high degree of rigidity, a door sill is effective to reduce significantly the penetration depth of the impacting object during a lateral impact.
Another arrangement is shown in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 31 51 861, which discloses vehicle doors designed so that the door sill is greatly relied upon for absorption of the impact energy during a lateral impact. The door sill is highly torsion-resistant because of its load-bearing function.
German Patent Specification 31 11 045 discloses a safety device using a beam tie arrangement to transfer the impact energy to damping elements of the vehicle. The beam tie arrangement is intended to function as an impact protection device without low-deformation supports and energy-absorbing crusher zones.